Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

Leading Supercomputing Center Joins Darkstrand Network to Bring Greater Bandwidth and Research Brainshare to U.S. Companies

CHICAGO, IL., May 14, 2009 - Darkstrand, a pioneer in corporate high-speed connectivity bridging research and commercialization, today announced a collaborative agreement with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC). This agreement enables corporations connected anywhere on the Darkstrand Network to collaborate in real time with PSC on high-performance computing projects leading to product development. Network connectivity also provides companies with a direct line to PSC's technical consultants, application experts, supercomputing systems and mass-storage capabilities. Corporations and research facilities that reside on the Darkstrand Network can now connect seamlessly to leverage research and computing resources in previously unknown levels of collaboration across geographies.

A joint effort of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh and a leading partner in the TeraGrid, the National Science Foundation's cyberinfrastructure program, PSC provides university, government, and industrial researchers with access to several of the most powerful systems available for high-performance computing and data-handling. Since PSC was established in 1986, it has enabled advances in many fields, including the life sciences, Earth sciences, physical sciences, clean energy, innovative technologies and manufacturing processes.

"This collaboration will expand the reach of high-performance computing into the corporate environment," said PSC Executive Director David Moses."Through Darkstrand's connectivity, American business will have ready access not only to the amazing hardware and software tools that have transformed scientific research over the last 20 years but also, and just as importantly, they will be able to interact with a consulting staff second-to-none in knowing how to use these tools to get results. This is an important win for U.S. economic competitiveness."

"Darkstrand is launching a new R&D collaboration model for corporate America, in which bandwidth is no longer a constraint on innovation. PSC provides the integrated HPC environment, deep technical support and Ph.D-level consultants needed to fast forward discovery in science, engineering and advanced computing," said Michael Stein, CEO, Darkstrand. "From simulation to prototype, insight to market, our work together serves as a turnkey solution tailored to improve our country's competitive advantage."

For more than 20 years, PSC has provided computing power and expertise to support the research of more than 5,200 scientists and engineers nationwide. Corporations that have partnered with PSC include Alcoa, DuPont, PPG Industries, Chevron Oil Field Research, Air Products, and Westinghouse Electric Co. PSC is located in the technology-rich community of Pittsburgh, site of the renowned University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

About Darkstrand Darkstrand, Inc. leverages enterprise-level network bandwidth to close the collaboration gap between corporations and research communities. Darkstrand is a pivotal corporate partner for solving real workflow, development and collaborative challenges, linking teams, facilities and suppliers into one ecosystem in a high-speed, networked grid environment via the National LambdaRail (NLR), a coast to coast 12,000-route mile optical network spread across 30 U.S. cities. Darkstrand shortens time to insight and expands productivity for companies wanting a competitive edge. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Darkstrand was established in 2005. For more information, visit http://www.darkstrand.com.